Global stocks continued their upward march, ending the week at healthy gains. They paused only briefly Wednesday, which so far has been the only down day in 2018. Much like last year, foreign stocks maintain the lead over domestic, but both are up 4% or more for the first two weeks of the year. Commodities jumped on rebounding oil prices, with gold also ending in positive territory. Bonds moved slightly lower as Treasury yields increased.
Weekly Returns:
FTSE All-World ex-US: (+1.3%)
US 10 Year Treasury Yield: 2.55% (+0.07%)
Gold: $1,339 (+1.3%)
EUR/USD: $1.220 (+1.4%)
Major Events:
Our Take:
Frothiness seems to be growing, and nowhere is that more evident than cryptocurrencies. It's usually a red flag when everyone you know is trying to strike it rich through the same investment. We saw it in the late ‘90s with internet stocks, and again in 2007 when people with no real estate backgrounds were suddenly amassing small rental empires. The same is happening with cryptocurrencies, where even the mention of the term “blockchain” can send a stock soaring. Just this week Eastman Kodak announced it will launch KodakCoin in order to help photographers better control photo rights. The stock jumped 120% on the news, and another 57% the following day. It then dropped 21% on Thursday after South Korea announced it will crackdown on digital currencies. This is nuts.
